Courteous Ghosts and Carousels
by Chloe Silvers
Summary: To Derek, they weren't dead. Not really. Sad Derek Hale Thanksgiving Story. Written for 30 Days of Sterek: Day 9


He watched as she set a small plate in front of him and walked over to the other side of the table. She tossed her curly blonde hair over her shoulder as she sat down across from him. "DId you call them?" She asked, taking a sip from her coffee mug. "Or did you chicken out again?"

"You better eat something", Derek told her. "I'm not eating leftovers for a week."

Erica shook her head and smiled. "You chickened out. It's kind of endearing, in a pathetic sort of way."

"I swear, he never had this problem when we were kids", he heard a voice call out from the kitchen. He rolled his eyes automatically. "Maybe before his first slam dunk", Laura continued as she stepped back into the room with her own plate.

"Maybe he should have done baseball as a kid", Erica suggested. "Little less of the getting right to it, more of getting to one base at a time."

Laura made a face and sat down next to Erica. "I really don't want to think about him and getting to different bases."

He saw the slice of pie on Laura's plate and frowned. "You can't just skip to dessert", he told her.

Laura took a bite. "I think I just did."

Derek heard footsteps coming from the staircase and saw Boyd coming down. "We're skipping to dessert?" He asked. "That kind of defeats the point of spending all day cooking, doesn't it?"

"I only did that because you said that it would be a waste to not use the kitchen today", Derek pointed out. "And I never said that we're skipping to dessert. Your paper better be finished."

"Yeah, that looks like dinner", Boyd answered sarcastically, pointing a finger at the pumpkin pie as he sat next to Derek. "Don't be a dick", he told Laura, who scooped some whipped cream out with her finger and put it on Boyd's nose. He just smiled.

"The paper?" Derek prompted.

"It's done", Boyd told him. "Hey, you know who actually sucks at writing essays? Isaac."

"He never called them", Erica mentioned.

"You want me to do it?" Boyd asked Derek

Derek let out a sigh. "They have their own plans."

"I say screw them", Boyd said cheerfully, wiping the whipped cream off. "They're the ones that left. They should be checking in here, not the other way around."

"They had to", Derek reminded him. "I needed to keep them safe."

"Isn't it a rule?" Laura interrupted. "Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter- aren't those the big three?"

"They don't have to follow a rule", Derek told her.

"Well, I don't know what it is", Laura complained. "We were always around each other. It was never a thing in our family."

"And it shouldn't be a thing now", Derek said. "What do you want me to do, fly Cora and Jackson in? Crash the McCall's Thanksgiving dinner? They have their own families."

Erica got up. "I'm getting some pie", she announced.

Derek pushed his plate forward. "You'll eat it after you eat this."

Laura let out a laugh, taking another bite from her plate. "This pie is just so good", she boasted.

"We can eat in reverse", Erica suggested.

Derek thought about it for a moment. "Fine." Erica and Boyd both headed over to the kitchen.

"You're such a pushover", Laura teased.

"You're just mad because I carved the turkey this year."

"You slice too thin."

"And you hack off a piece", Derek shot back. "You might as well hit it with some sort of blunt instrument."

He watched her smile for a second, like it had been a million years since he had seen it.

"You need to call them, Derek", she told him gently. "You're not a piece of chopped liver. You're their Alpha."

Derek shook his head. "Not anymore."

"Technicalities", she brushed off. "Look, you can blame it on distance with Cora and Jackson, but you can't do it for everyone."

Derek gave her a hard look. "I'm not calling Peter."

"I'm not saying to call Peter. I'm saying to call the rest, leave a message, send well wishes. Just be there."

"I don't see the point."

She reached across the table, grabbed his hand, and gave it a gently squeeze. He shook his head. "I always hated that you wear red nailpolish. Now, I'm not sure who it reminds me of more."

She shrugged, letting go of his hand and patting him on the shoulder affectionately. "I'm more awesome. And you need to call Isaac."

"He's never going to forgive me. He's where he's supposed to be now."

"No, he's not", Laura answered steadily. "And neither are we. You know that."

"It's", Derek tried before starting over. "When I turned them, it wasn't supposed to be like this."

"The flowers were nice, though", Laura told him. "A little cheesy and girly, but they were nice."

"I'm glad you got this place", Laura brought up. "I still can't believe you lived in the house all that time. And then that train car."

He raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you live in the house when you came back?"

She gave him a pitying look. "No, sweetie", she told him. "I stayed in a hotel."

He let out a chuckle and heard the door slide open suddenly, someone calling out his name. "Derek?"

He didn't want to turn around, because that meant that they would all be gone. He saw Erica and Boyd coming out of the kitchen from the corner of his eye and Laura sitting here. He just wanted to be here for a little while longer.

But when he heard the voice again, his head turned automatically.

"Hello, Derek? Anyone in there?"

Stiles turned on a light. "Dude, are you okay? You're literally moping around in the dark."

When Derek turned back to the table, it was empty. All that was in front of him was a slice of pumpkin pie.

"They're all gone", Derek realized.

Stiles nodded, pulling up a chair where Laura was sitting before. "I know."

Derek slid the plate to the other side of the table, and Stiles caught it with one hand. "Tell me if it's any good."

He watched as Stiles cautiously took a bite, as if it was trying to kill him. It reminded him of Laura- the facial expressions were the same. He remembered the first time he baked a pie for her on Thanksgiving and the consistency was more like mush than an actual pie.

Stiles gave him a surprised look. "This is really good. Where did you buy it from?"

Derek let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. He hadn't made it since he came back. It was Laura's favorite. "I didn't."

Stiles nodded. "Awesome. You should bake more. Next time you have major down time."

He shot Stiles a questioning look. It wasn't the best idea to plan the next time. Not with their lives.

"If we go into everything thinking that we're not going to come out of it, we're not going to last long", Stiles explained. He nudged the paper bag resting on the table next to him. "Brought you some leftovers from Scott's house."

Derek got up abruptly and headed over to the kitchen. He called Isaac and got his voicemail.

"I'm here with Stiles and we're eating pie. You should be here", he told Isaac. "If you can't, it's okay. Happy Thanksgiving."

He ended the call and came back into the room with a slice of pie. "Let's eat it in reverse. Pie first, then dinner."

"Awesome. I like it. You know, I'm going to tell everyone that you bake. It'll blow their minds. You're getting a chef's hat for Christmas, by the way."

"Absolutely not", Derek replied.

"I think it's going to be a really big chef's hat. And an apron."

"I don't think so", Derek answered.

"So that's basically a maybe", Stiles pondered. "I'll wear you down."

He wanted to know what Stiles was doing here, but he didn't question it. They sat there together, and Derek tried to stop waiting for the door to slide open again.

It never did.


End file.
